Month: June 2017

Scientists have figured out exactly where on a wave surfers need to hit to get the fastest speeds and the best ride – but the discovery can also be used in studies of weather and climate, not just giving surfers a boost. The analysis is based on the physics of how air and water interact,

Engineers have developed a type of camera that doesn’t require any lenses. They’re replacing curved glass with something that does the same job computationally – an ultra-thin optical phased array. Researchers hope that the findings could turn a wide range of flat surfaces into image collectors. To capture the perfect selfie or Instagram photo,

Scientists have discovered that a simple model used to describe the formation an exotic type of quantum particle, an Efimov molecule, is wrong – flipping ten years of experimental data on its head. The result of this study came as a complete surprise to the researchers and has implications for our fundamental understanding of how

Sharper lasers mean better accuracy in all the fields where they’re used, and scientists have just set a new record for laser sharpness, building a laser with a linewidth of just 10 millihertz (0.01 hertz). That linewidth is a measurement of how much of the optical spectrum it covers, and while we haven’t achieved the

Right now, the Sun is stirring up violent eruptions capable of wiping out the technology we are so dependent on, and new research has found that these blasts are even harder to predict than scientists first thought. The findings reveal that these coronal mass ejections hurl into Earth’s atmosphere like a sneeze rather than a

Every year, Siberia is struck by wildfires that destroy great swathes of boreal forest. But climate change has caused wildfire activity in Siberia to increase radically over the past few decades. The boreal forests in Siberia are burning at extraordinary rates, unheard of in at least 10,000 years, and climate change projections predict even more

A type of force that makes molecules briefly stick to one another has been shown to have a more repulsive side, even when they aren’t being squeezed together. Since first being described in 1930, van der Waal forces have been regarded as mostly attractive, only pushing back when groups of molecules are under pressure. New

Its nose, unlike that of most mammals, was right between the eyes, like an elephant’s trunk. It weighed about as much as a horse. Its neck is long, leading scientists to believe that this strange creature discovered almost two centuries ago in South America could be an oversized llama. But Macrauchenia patachonica is neither a llama nor a horse, nor

In the continuous pursuit of a truly renewable and clean energy source, nothing compares to nuclear fusion. Although scientists have already found ways to harness the energy from the reaction that powers stars, it hasn’t been an easy feat. Despite the advances in research pertaining to nuclear fusion, there still isn’t a stable – not to

Scientists have unveiled spherical microbots capable of propelling themselves through water and killing off bacteria at the same time, potentially giving us a new and effective way of tackling contaminated water supplies. Swimming through water infected with E. coli, the new bots were able to kill more than 80 percent of the bacteria present inside

Global life expectancy rates continue to rise, which poses the question: will the trend ever stop? New research reports there’s no sign of a fixed age limit for the human body, with human beings set to keep living longer and longer. That’s based on a study of the lifespans of the longest-living individuals from the

Things are not looking good for the coal industry. In the latest blow to this fossil fuel, the world’s biggest coal company is closing a total of 37 mines. It seems that the rise of solar power is playing a major role in the decline of coal. The company, Coal India, produces 82 percent of

New research conducted on 61 million US citizens has found air quality that would be given the tick by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards can still have a significant impact on health and the risk of death. The study conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found mortality increased by 7.3

Scientists have integrated carbon nanotubes in neurons to control growth and restore lost electrical connections between nerve cells. They have shown that the carbon nanotubes can be used safely and hope they can restore neural function to people with spinal injuries. The integration of carbon nanotubes brought along some unexpected benefits too. Carbon nanotubes

Palm cockatoos don’t simply warble or croon like other birds. The northern Australian birds are drummers. These Neil Pearts of the parrot world break off sticks or seedpods and, holding the object in their feet, rap against hollow tree branches. The knock-knock-knock of twig on wood is, to female palm cockatoos, quite studly. Drumming draws biologists to the cockatoos, too.

Over the past 60 years, humans have successfully launched satellites, space vehicles and humans into Earth’s orbit. We’ve also managed to leave a whole bunch of stuff floating up there that can destroy satellites in an instant. Thankfully, researchers have designed a robotic gripper that can pick up the junk we’ve left behind on our

Archaeologists have unearthed fragments of several human skulls from a dig site in southeast Turkey with some rather unusual groove patterns scratched into their surface. The incisions and perforations appear to be intentional, making them the first evidence of a funerary ritual in that part of the world, and possibly evidence of an ancient cult.

Yellowstone has had a turbulent June. In just two weeks, the supervolcano that lies underneath the national park was hit with 878 earthquakes. The dense series of earthquakes, called an earthquake swarm, began on June 12. Within one week, the USGS had already recorded 464 earthquakes. “This is the highest number of earthquakes at

There’s possibly no better feeling than the calm and happiness that follow the completion of a long, tough run. So where does this so-called ‘runner’s high‘ come from? You’ve probably heard it get chalked up to a rise in endorphins, the ‘happy’ chemicals that induce feelings of pain relief and pleasure. But it’s actually more complicated

The Tropics are defined as the area of Earth where the Sun is directly overhead at least once a year – the zone between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. However, tropical climates occur within a larger area about 30 degrees either side of the Equator. Earth’s dry subtropical zones lie adjacent to this broad

Scientists are one step closer to becoming mind readers after new research identified some of the complex brain patterns that go into forming sentences in our heads. Brain patterns generated by certain sentences could be predicted with 87 percent accuracy in the study, based on an ‘alphabet’ of 42 different concepts covering size, location, colours,

The world’s first ‘Forest City,’ created to fight pollution, is now under construction in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province, China. Designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, a team that develops green projects all around the world, the futuristic Forest City will be home to a community of about 30,000 people. It will be covered in greenery, including

The latest inspirational depiction of animals getting along is, alas, not what it seems. This picture of a beluga whale hugging a fur seal has gained massive traction on Reddit and social media overnight, but it’s quite literally too good to be true. Not only are whales and seals not prone to spontaneous hugging, the

A new study on the power of chimpanzees has challenged a century of assumptions on the super-strength of our primate cousins, finding their muscular performance is actually about 1.5 times greater than ours. It also turns out that the secret to their superior strength isn’t stronger muscle fibres, as suspected, but a specific ratio of

Next time you withdraw money from a hole in the wall, consider singing a rendition of happy birthday. For on June 27, the Automated Teller Machine (or ATM) celebrated its half century. Fifty years ago, the first cash machine was put to work at the Enfield branch of Barclays Bank in London. Two days later, a Swedish

While the famous Antarctic “ozone hole” is finally beginning to heal, 30 years after it was first discovered, scientists have just identified a new threat to its recovery. A study, just out Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that a common industrial chemical called dichloromethane – which has the power to destroy ozone –

In a major discovery, astronomers have observed a pair of supermassive black holes orbiting each other, hundreds of millions of light years away. The discovery is the result of more than two decades of work, and an incredible feat considering the precise measurements required. Understanding the nature of such interactions will give us a greater

Earth is estimated to be around 4.5 billion years old, with life first appearing around 3 billion years ago. To unravel this incredible history, scientists use a range of different techniques to determine when and where continents moved, how life evolved, how climate changed over time, when our oceans rose and fell, and how land was

We could one day develop a process to regenerate tissue in the human heart, according to new research, by borrowing a technique from an unlikely source – a muscle-less and heart-less starlet sea anemone. The Nematostella vectensis creature has the ability to regenerate as several different organisms if it’s chopped up into pieces, and scientists

If you’re always hanging on to junk you no longer need, a new study suggests one way to start decluttering: take photos of the stuff you can’t bring yourself to let go of. Researchers found that people are more willing to part with unneeded items with sentimental value if they do something to preserve the

On 21 November 2012, Sheila Bartels walked out of the Sunshine Medical Center in Oklahoma with a prescription for a “horrifyingly excessive” cocktail of drugs capable of killing her several times over. A short time later, she was at a pharmacy, receiving what drug addicts call “the holy trinity” of prescription drugs: the powerful painkiller

Like most animals adapted to urban living, the house finches in Mexico City make good use of what we humans commonly throw away. The tiny Carpodacus mexicanus birds take cigarette butts back to their nests, a habit that researchers are now confident is to keep ticks at bay, even if the toxins have a rather

There’s been a lot of scepticism about whether renewable energy can produce all our future energy needs. So last week, a Chinese province went out of their way to show it was possible for the entire region to run solely on green energy. And it seems they did just that. For seven continuous days, over

In at least the third such study published in the past year, scientists have confirmed seas are rising, and the rate of sea level rise is increasing as time passes – a sobering punchline for coastal communities that are only now beginning to prepare for a troubling future. What was a 2.2 millimetre per year

Water is one of the most fundamental molecules on Earth, and yet scientists are only just beginning to wrap their heads around how bizarre the substance really is. Case in point: researchers have now discovered that water exists in not one, but two distinct liquid phases, each with big differences in structure and density.

Researchers have just published the results of an experiment creating the brightest light ever produced on Earth – shining as bright as a billion of our Suns. This research, although just incredibly awesome, also has implications for a new type of X-ray, and confirming some of the basics of electrodynamics. “There were many theories,

For electric cars to really hit the mainstream we need to build better networks of charging points so drivers can ‘fill up’ more easily – and an ingenious scheme is now underway in London to convert standard streetlights into charging points for vehicles. All that electric car drivers need is a custom charging cable and

Just being near your smartphone can be enough to reduce your brain power, even when it’s switched off, according to a new study – so you might want to give yourself and your mobile some alone time in the future. The research shows the way our smartphones have become a constant source of distraction, whether

NASA just schooled Gwyneth Paltrow about wellness stickers promoted on her lifestyle blog, Goop. Goop said in a post that the stickers, which are sold by Body Vibes, are “made with the same conductive carbon material NASA uses to line space suits so they can monitor an astronaut’s vitals during wear” and can target energetic

A new kind of transparent film inspired by the eyes of moths could soon be on its way to help cut the glare on your phone’s screen without sapping its battery. Not only could the technology make it four times easier to see your screen out in the sunlight, it is flexible enough to adapt

If humans have any hope of living forever, we should probably take a hint from the dozens of other animals on Earth that far outpace our measly 71 years. One of the longest-lived of these animals is the Greenland shark, which researchers only recently discovered could survive for so long. On a 2017 expedition,

Human space exploration is going to kick into high gear in the coming decades. Within the inner Solar System alone, missions are being planned that will see robotic explorers and crews sent to Near Earth Objects (NEOs), back to the Moon, and even on to Mars. Beyond that, there are even plans to send robotic

Hacker network Anonymous has made headlines today, this time claiming that NASA is on the verge of announcing evidence of alien life. It’s a pretty bold statement, but before you get too excited, we’ve checked the science, and let’s be clear right up front that Anonymous doesn’t appear to have any substantial new evidence to

We all heard about the disgusting toe in a cocktail drink last week – but what if all you ate was human flesh? Apart from the moral issues, and weird legalities of the whole thing, would it actually be dangerous for you? What happens when a human actually eats another human? The boys from

Elon Musk’s SpaceX took a scheduling delay and turned it into a historic opportunity: as the result of postponing the launch of a Bulgarian satellite from Monday to Friday of last week, SpaceX had two Falcon 9 rocket launches within 48 hours of each other. Friday’s BulgariaSat-1 launch happened from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The second one –

Doctors thought they were operating on a malignant tumour when they set about removing an unusual oval lump on the right side of a 40-year-old woman’s body. What they recovered instead was a perfectly normal and fully functioning extra spleen. Most of us only have one spleen, an organ involved in immune function and blood

The Interior Department plans to remove the federal protections that the Yellowstone grizzly bear has had under the Endangered Species Act for the last 42 years, officials announced on June 22. In 1975, there were as few as 136 Yellowstone grizzly bears; there are now approximately 700. “As a kid who grew up in Montana, I

Scientists have developed special algorithms that enable body scaffolds called exoskeletons to adjust to the walk of the person wearing them, making these robotic aids more efficient and personalised. The enhanced mechanics are able to tweak their behaviour based on feedback from the wearer’s metabolism and other measurements, and the team behind the system is calling

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